England have turned to youth in the squad named for the forthcoming Six Nations.

Lancaster has named a 35-man squad for the Championship and has had to cope with a host of injuries. With Tom Croft, Manu Tuilagi, Alex Corbisiero, Geoff Parling, Christian Wade, Ben Foden and Marland Yarde all out injured, Lancaster has used the chance to blood some youth with five uncapped players named in the squad.

Exeter's Jack Nowell, Bath's Anthony Watson and George Ford, Northampton's Luther Burrell and Leicester's Ed Slater have all been called up while Gloucester's Jonny May and Sale's Henry Thomas, who both won caps in the summer on tour in Argentina, are also named. Stephen Myler, Rob Webber and Henry Thomas will also train with the squad.

Stuart Lancaster rolls the dice

In the board game Risk, there are a number of variables which can stifle or help plans to achieve world domination. Battles are decided on the roll of a dice, educated gambles taken all with a view to eliminating other players.

The chosen training squad for the Six Nations has seen Stuart Lancaster juggle those six-sided cubes of destiny and trust his instincts, a mindset built from years of working in and around English rugby, with just 20 games standing between now and the 2015 World Cup.

The Elite Player Squad stays largely the same but Toby Flood has been omitted as he is expected to join Toulouse in the summer. Ford takes his place.

Lancaster said: "We have kept changes to a minimum because we believe that this squad can take us forward into 2015 and we are hopeful that some of those injured may be available before the end of the Six Nations and certainly for the New Zealand tour.

"I have met Toby Flood several times and told him I really wanted him to stay at Leicester and play for England. He has made a lifestyle choice and we respect that but given the RFU's policy of not selecting players based overseas save for exceptional circumstances it was important that we allow others such as George Ford to progress."

Freddie Burns is not included in the training squad for the Six Nations but will have his chance to stake a claim for a spot in the squad when he plays for the Saxons against the Ireland Wolfhounds on January 25.

"I am delighted for George [Ford] who is rewarded for his form for Bath and we are excited about including him in the Senior Elite Player Squad," Lancaster added. "Stephen Myler has a chance to lay down a marker when he trains with us while we have decided that Freddie Burns should get more international game time with the Saxons against the Ireland Wolfhounds at Kingsholm on January 25, while Rob Webber and Richard Wigglesworth will give us some depth to our training."